UNION, NJ -- Culinary Ventures Vending is deploying cashless vending technology on a large scale in response to the growing trend toward NFC and mobile payments. The vending company, which serves the New York City metropolitan area, has installed Crane Merchandising Systems' cashless bezels and taken delivery of 3,000 Crane Currenza Navigator telemetry devices to connect them to the Internet.

The retrofit telemetry device enables mesh networking and supports both wired (Ethernet) and wireless connections through AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Equipped with multiple USB ports, Navigator is capable of supporting touchscreen displays, cameras, all cashless payment bezels and future peripherals as future applications become available. It is VDI compliant to transmit remote DEX data to any vending management system, and has a patented MDB monitoring system to send machine service alerts, reducing down time.

Doug Longworth, director of technology at Culinary Ventures Vending, said the vending company turned to Crane because of the integration capabilities with Navigator and its existing Crane equipment and VendMAX software.

"Now, we can benefit not just from the increased sales a cashless payment option can provide, but also the enhanced efficiencies that result from having DEX data sent wirelessly to VendMax," said Longworth. "This technology has opened our eyes to the future of vending. It is the lifeline the industry needed for companies to start being profitable and getting excited again."

Culinary Ventures Vending said it plans to have all 3,000 Navigators installed by yearend. The company, based in Union, NJ, manages 1,000 vending, office coffee and bottled water accounts.